Plastic Dress and matching Purse

This dress and purse was made with plastic grocery bags.Ask your friends and family to save bags for you, it won't take long to get as many as you need!  It took 40 bags to make the purse and about 200 for the dress. I made it for my daughter to model in the 2009 Santa Fe Recycle Art Trashion Show. We got 3rd place! The blue strips woven through the waist and the top edge of the purse was cut from a pretty blue plastic bag. I lined the dress with 3 old white cotton shirts from the thrift shop.

Step 1: Cutting the bags into strips

Flatten out the bag. cut off the bottom and the handles. Open up the bag and begin cutting a spiral strip about 1-1/2" wide, turning the bag as you go. Keep cutting until you have one long strip. Tie the ends of the strips together, cutting off the excess.Start rolling the strips into a ball. Continue tying strips together until you have 20 or 30 bags cut up. This can be time consuming but I like to cut the bags up while I'm watching TV and, before I know it, I've got a couple dozen bags cut up and rolled into a ball.

Comments

[Penolopy Bulnick]

Oh that looks like so cool! That Recycle Art Trashion Show sounds like a blast!!!

[kf4nxs]

This is not one bit Trashy, glad that our youth is learning to recycle and care for our little marble.

[Yashfa Zafar]

Such a brilliant recycling process!

[twinkleshine]

clever !!

[WUVIE]

Oh my gosh, this is so cute, and so creative! And you crochet, too?
I'm so envious! Putting it on my list of 'things to learn one day'. :-)

[katvanlew]

Thank you, I learned to crochet when I was young and always have a project going.

[wilgubeast]

So awesome. Well done. With the SF plastic bag tax, that dress is worth something like $24. Awesome upcycling.

[katvanlew]

thanks for the nice comment, the thing about being a creative person is experimenting with different materials and sometimes projects don't turn out as well as you'd like them to. sometimes my experiments with "trash" get thrown in the trash, but this one turned out well.

[Josehf Murchison]

No worry about wine stains on an evening out Eh.
I like the randomness of the colors.
Joe

[katvanlew]

thanks, I am pleased with the way it turned out.

[alpinerose]

I like knitting better than crochet. Think I will try something in a knit pattern. Should be fun.

[katvanlew]

post pictures when you are done, I would like to see what you make!

[tn.]

genius!!!!!

[katvanlew]

thanks for the nice comment!

[capt redd]

all new meaning for the term bag lady lol

[katvanlew]

Exactly!

[elewis03]

You are so talented!

[katvanlew]

Thank you for the nice comment!

[poofrabbit]

Congratulations on being a finalist in the fiber arts contest!! Good luck to you!

[katvanlew]

Thank you, I am thrilled to be a finalist!

[emerson.john]

Over time the garment will biodegrade due to sunlight. If stored in the dark, like a closet or drawer, that will take a very long time. If left in the sun the process is surprisingly fast. Clever idea!

[katvanlew]

Yes, if you make a rug out of the plastic bags, it's ok to put it outside under a covered porch., do not let it be in direct sunlight for very long.

[godbacon]

Beautiful job, I would just caution anyone wearing these to be very weary of open flames. Not a good idea to attend barbecues or campfires in one of these.

[Dakotamouse]

this reminds me of the early 70's when everyones grandma saved bread bags and crocheted rugs. I'll bet you remember those days too!

[katvanlew]

that is exactly where I got the idea from! one of my daughters actually made a rug from bread bags several years ago.

[sunshiine]

My daughter is saving bags to make rugs and handbags. I will share this with her. So pretty! I hope your day shines! Sunshiine
Sunshiine

[sanjay117]

diffcuilt to decide , which is beautiful/ WEARER OR THE WORN ONE !!!!

[wold630]

Very impressive. I love the blue stripe to give the dress character.